How the federal government shutdown touches the Rockford area

Saturday

ROCKFORD — Three weeks into the federal government shutdown, some employees are working without pay while many federal services to Rock River Valley residents remain operational — for now.

Here's a look at some of the effects of the shutdown in the Rockford area.

Quiet courtrooms

“We are deeply concerned that the lack of appropriation will create delays in the Court’s ability to ensure timely justice,” U.S. District Chief Judge Ruben Castillo said in an email statement.

The federal courthouses in the Northern District of Illinois, including the Rockford courthouse, have used court fee balances and other funds to pay for operations since Dec. 22. That money can sustain operations through Jan. 18, but afterward, federal courthouses will have to further scale back.

Since Dec. 26, all civil cases involving the U.S. government, federal agencies and any party represented by the U.S. Attorney’s Office or U.S. Department of Justice temporarily are on hold. As of Jan. 9, 983 civil cases in the Chicago and Rockford federal courthouses had been halted. By Thursday afternoon, 112 alone were in Rockford.

If the shutdown continues beyond Jan. 18, jurors won’t be paid until funding resumes. Criminal trials will continue, as will civil trials already underway, but no new civil jury trials will begin.

“Many court employees live paycheck to paycheck and will be forced to make extremely tough financial decisions to keep their families afloat,” Castillo said. “The morale of our court workforce suffers when public servants and their livelihoods become hostage to political talks.”

Help with your finances

Some local banks will work with federal employees who are customers to help them while they remain unpaid.

Dan Stevenson, senior vice president of banking for Midland States Bank, urged Midland customers not being paid during the shutdown to call the bank at 855-696-4352 to discuss financial assistance.

Such assistance “would be unique to the individual," he said. "We would have to review their needs and determine their options.”

Rosa Pace, a personal banker with Illinois Bank & Trust, 4048 E. State St., Rockford, said those affected by the shutdown can take out another credit card or participate in the Buy Local Loan program. That 12-month term loan requires a customer to make a purchase from a local business, ranging in price from $1,000 to $5,000, and they can apply to be reimbursed for that purchase. Bank customers must have a checking account with the bank and provide the receipt from the business or contractor, which is located in Winnebago, Boone, Stephenson, Jo Daviess, Carroll, Whiteside or Mercer counties, Pace said.

Federal Housing Administration Commissioner Brian Montgomery urged financial institutions and mortgage lenders to remember “their ongoing obligation to offer special forbearance to” people who have borrowed money and are losing income because of the shutdown.

Forbearance is one financial option in which mortgage payments are temporarily suspended or reduced while workers are short of cash. It is a financial arrangement made between homeowners facing financial hardships and their mortgage lenders, and typically are agreed to on a case-by-case basis.

Federal program payments

Those receiving retirement, Medicare and disability benefits from the Social Security Administration won’t be affected and payments will not be delayed during the shutdown, said Doug Nguyen, an agency spokesman in Chicago. That’s because the agency already received its full fiscal year 2019 appropriation on Sept. 28.

Social Security services and offices will remain fully operational. And anyone applying for various types of benefits, or reporting the deaths of Social Security recipients, also won’t be affected, Nguyen said.

The Illinois Department of Human Services said on Friday that food stamp benefits, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, will continue through February. However, the February SNAP payment will arrive early, by Jan. 20

Flying out of Rockford

While Transportation Security Administration agents across the country are participating in a sick-out — calling in sick when not actually ill — one might experience a lengthier wait time to move through security at Chicago Rockford International Airport. However, there were no reports of long lines on Thursday or Friday.

In an email, TSA spokesman Thomas Kelly said 5 percent of the agency’s TSA agents had unscheduled absences on Wednesday, compared to a 3.6 percent unscheduled absence rate nationwide on Jan. 9 last year.

“As the current lapse in funding continues, we want to echo the sentiments of industry, the traveling public and TSA leadership who are proud of and thankful for the more than 51,000 officers across the country who remain focused on the mission,” he said. “Security standards remain uncompromised at our nation’s airports.”

Nationwide, TSA agents screened 1.74 million passengers on Wednesday. He said 99.9 percent of passengers waited less than 30 minutes and those going through TSA Precheck lanes waited, on average, less than five minutes. While Kelly didn’t have wait times for passengers traveling through Rockford, standard screening passengers at Chicago Midway International Airport waited a maximum of 10 minutes on Wednesday, while passengers in TSA Precheck waited four minutes.

Kristen Zambo: 815-987-1339; kzambo@rrstar.com; @KristenZambo

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